The beginning comes six years before the war.
Two years are decisive for this question: 1933 and 1945. The first marks Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor and the subsequent establishment of dictatorship. The second marks the collapse of the Nazi regime at the end of the war in Europe.
Political opponents were persecuted, freedoms removed and Jewish people excluded before Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Learning only the war years therefore leaves out a substantial part of Nazi rule.
The other three answers
Check both the beginning and the end of each option.
1918 to 1923
1918 to 1923 comes before Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor. The early existence of the Nazi movement is not the same as its later control of the state.
1932 to 1950
1932 begins one year too early; 1950 ends five years too late. Electoral successes before 1933 do not mean Hitler was already Chancellor.
1945 to 1989
1945 marks the end of Nazi rule, not its beginning. The period up to 1989 belongs to later German history.
A starting date does not replace an explanation.
Appointment on 30 January 1933 and the destruction of democratic rights are connected but distinct steps. Further measures, violence and persecution consolidated dictatorship. The year summarises this historical transition for the test.
Hitler’s death in April 1945 and the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 are also different events. For the period asked about, the shared end year of 1945 remains correct.
Nazi regime · German Historical Museum ↗Nazi rule: 1933–1945. War: 1939–1945.
Distinguish the two starting points. A question about being “in power” is not automatically a question about the start of the war.
Three words for this question
- an der Macht seinbe in power
- To exercise control over the state.
- das NS-Regimethe Nazi regime
- The National Socialist dictatorship in Germany.
- die Zeitspannetime span
- A period between a beginning and an end.